Used well, a freezer can be a cook’s best friend, as useful as your oven and cook top. There is nothing more comforting after a long, hard day, than coming home to a delicious, homemade meal and these easy-to-freeze recipes do double-duty for your dinner now and later. This is a very useful thread for all those busy bees……. time saver for working parents, a lifesaver for new parents, perfect for hubby’s to whip up quick meals if wife’s on a long vacation to India or can even come handy on a lazy day. Shared here are few Indian dishes which can be made ahead and stored in freezer for upto a month. Also please share your ideas on freezing and preserving Indian food.

Disclaimer: Freshly Cooked Food is always the best and these are just hints for some busy days. Please follow proper care when freezing orelse the food may spoil.

1. Freshness and quality of the food at the time of freezing really matters as they may affect the condition of the frozen foods. They turn out good and taste better if frozen at the peak of their quality, so freeze items sooner rather than later to retain nutrition, flavor and texture.

2. Freeze food in serving -sized potions. This way its not only convenient but smaller portions thaw more quickly.

3. Use freezer friendly containers, zip-lock bags and wraps which not only avoids freezer burns but also saves lot of your freezer space.

4. Labeling is very important- remember if you are not the one using and plan to store it for someone then that person may not have a clue as to what is what!! Sort veggie dish from meat, name and date.

5. Use a food processor for chopping and mincing as you will be making a big batch and they are really helpful in reducing some burden.

6. Do not freeze while the food is still hot, cool completely or bring to room temperature then go ahead and freeze.

Even though all items mentioned here are tried and tested, I cannot guarantee freshness, quality and safety. It all depends on how well its stored and the quality of food totally relies on the temperature. Tastewise they might not be as perfect as freshly cooked food but atleast better than those boxed store-bought ready made meals. I’ve tried my best to cover the basics and captured a few, will also update if I come up with something new. Also please do share your thoughts and ideas on this topic. I made a huge batch of these for my husband before leaving on a long vacation to India.

Here’s the Top 10 foods which freeze well and turns out pretty decent when thawed and re-heated. Some of these may need additional cooking once thawed.

Plain chapati tends to become slightly hard when re-heated, if that doesn’t matter then proceed.

2. Cooked and mashed Toor dal, Moong dal – Soak and cook dal with little tamarind, turmeric and salt. Tempering or Talimpu is just optional. Pre-made sambar doesn’t taste that good so just make the dal ahead and add fresh saute-id veggies when you are ready to eat.

3. Chicken Curry – Make sure you add enough oil and saute until the oil separates from the gravy. Do not add too much water, make it slightly thick and adjust the consistency when ready to eat.

4. Dry Vegetable Curries – Most vegetable curries stay good. Some avoid potato as it tends to become little grainy but if you fry them in enough oil they tend to become intact. If you cannot handle just ignore.

5. Any kind of Tamarind based Mixes – Rasam mix is my favorite. (Shown above) You just start like how you make regular rasam and avoid adding any water or coriander. You may finish by adding those and simmering when you are ready to eat.

Use small plastic box for individual servings. Same way you can prepare Kaara kuzhambu / Pulusu. Kurma mix can be made ahead and you can finish by adding coconut milk later.

6. Biryani Curry Base – My all- time favorite life saver mix. Make a thick curry base with all masala. Add pre-cut frozen veggies or meat along with rice , water and yogurt whenever needed.

7. Idli Dosa Batter – i would recommend these only for a week or two may be… Grind the rice and urad dal and mix well. Do not add any salt. Pour them in batches and freeze. Whenever you are ready, take them out and leave them to thaw at room temperature for 3 hours. Then add required salt and ferment for 8 hours in a warm place. Then make idlis or dosas.

11. Paruppu usili mix- Grind soaked toor and channa dal with dry red chili along with some cumin seeds, fennel seeds and little salt. Steam like vadai, crumble lightly and cool completely before freezing. Thaw for few minutes before using in the recipe.

Some handy helpers are

1. Ginger Garlic paste

2. Green Chili

3. Yogurt Culture – Just thaw at room temperature and use it immediately for a fresh batch of yogurt.

4. Paneer (Cubed)

5. Usili Mix – Make the dal usili ahead and store like small pakoras .

6. Cut vegetables

7. Sprouts

8. Tomato puree

9. Coconut pieces – Break open a fresh coconut, cut them into pieces (or badhai) and freeze them in ziplocks. To thaw just put them in plain water for 30 minutes.

10. Dry fruits

Avoid these for sure

1. Milk based dishes

2. Yogurt based curries

3. Coconut based curries

4. Cheese

Some dishes keep well for few days if refrigerated provided you re-heat a small batch every time. Do not use the whole batch for re-heating. My personal choices….

Hope you all will like it and I’m eagerly waiting for more suggestions and tips to add on.

Your opinion always counts…..what do you think about this recipe ? We would really appreciate if you could Share your thoughts in the comments below! Send us a click of the recipes you try! Follow us on Facebook, Google+ & Instagram. Thank you!

38 Comments

Am a silent follower to ur blog.wowwww u r posting so many soooper doooper dishes.I like ur insta food pics and i like to read your stories the way u describe.Please keep rocking gal

Here i want to know how to do rasam gravy and freeze the same.
If possible plz share step wise pic about the freezer recipe which u mentioned like brinjal gravy/biriyani masala. and packing method like u posted for spring onion.

Awwww 😍 xxx silent follower… That’s so nice of you to come out of your cozy nest to comment here. 😀 Well, I would post it sometime but meanwhile here’s to head start, this is how I do it.
Temper oil.. may be a little ghee with mustard, cumin, dry red chili, asafoetida & curry leaves. I also like to add few freshly ground coarse raw dhania and black pepper. Saute crushed garlic and very little tomato along with hint of turmeric, sugar and salt. Add in thick tamarind extract ( no water) and simmer until it thickens like a paste. Switch off, cool completely and freeze. When you are ready to make, thaw the paste, dilute it with water, add in salt to taste, bring it to one boil and garnish with coriander leaves. A good rasam should taste good without rasam powder…if you like you may add some. Hope this helps..and do comment only then this lady knows what her readers like and join the insta fun🙂 thank you 😘😘😘

Hi Mullai,
I usually freeze a portion of whatever I cook at home for my daughter who is studying in uni and the travel time in the flight is 2.30 hours to her place. It stays preety much frozen all the way and she keeps them at times up to 3 months. So the freezer food is really a life saver for the kids who are in uni and who doesn’t have much time to cook! Yes it is really a life/ time saver for many😊👍🏻.

Hi Shah,
Thanks for your feedback. Yeah, very true college goers might benefit a lot. My fav thing to freeze is any kind of paratha, its just too easy, early in the morning when packing lunch box for my son. i just thaw them in microwave and cook just enough to warm it up and apply ghee, voila! lunch box ready. I do freeze yogurt culture, soups, uncooked samosa and much more! Thank you dear!

Can I make milk based gravy and aloo paneer kofta and freeze/refrigerate in separate containers 2-3 days prior to a dinner party? Will it be crisp/fresh after taking it out ? I understand nomally dairy and potatoes are not supposed to be frozen.. but just wondering if you or anyone has tried it.
thanks for your tips, very very handy. Ramya

Hi Ramya, milk based gravy will be a problem… better avoid, not that it cannot be frozen but never reliable as the other. Kofta will definitely become too mushy when u take it out. You may make the gravy base ahead and freeze but add the cream and kofta at the time of serving. Hope this helps!

Hi Gunjan, that”s a good question…Pyrex glass containers come with a instruction on the inside saying its oven safe, microwave safe and freezer safe but its not advisable to freeze in glass containers for the following reasons…
1. First of all, i usually make these for my husband if I’m out of town, like say… during long trip to India. In general, most hubbies (atleast mine) won’t care to read any of the instructions given in the box and gets the pyrex box straight from the freezer and pop it in the microwave, this is very dangerous… as the glass cannot be exposed to extreme shock from cold to hot and will make the glass to crack or burst. Hence i put individual portions in freezer safe ziploc bags, as he cannot eat straight from the bag, he needs to transfer to a microwave safe container and reheat it…. lol
2. Second reason – glass pyrex always come with plastic lids which once goes to freezer will tear or rip off when you try to apply force and open the lids.
3. In general, my 2 cents- glass is not that safe to put in the freezer but is good for reheating in microwave compared to plastic which is good for freezer or refrigerator storage but not for reheating.
4. Ziploc bags are so easy for thawing, also easily folds and packs up tight to take less freezer space and once you transfer the content to a container- toss them in trash, no clean up required.
Hope this helps and good luck with your cooking- cool the food completely before packing and freezing. Thanks Gunjan for your feedback and share a picture if you have time!

I am searching for freezer friendly food and came to your site. I am planning to prepare some stuff for my husband as I am leaving to India on long vacation . This is very helpful to me . Could you please let me know how many days we can freeze the food on an average?
like chapathi, paratha and home made spices?

Hello Rekha,
Freezer foods should last for few months, I wouldn’t recommend too long. These are just plain home cooked food with no preservatives and its advisable to finish in 2- 3 months. Freeze them in small individual portions that way you don’t have leftovers and finish once they are thawed. Thanks dear and have a fun vacation!

Hi Ep, freezing actually works well with most vegetables. I didnt quite get you whether you were asking for raw vegetables or stir fried. If freezing raw vegetable…you may blanch them first, dry them in a kitchen towel to drain all the water and then fill in ziploc bags and freeze. make sure you squeeze all the air out from the zip loc bag and then freeze it. (This method will keep the veggies color and taste intact for few months) Freezing without blanching, veggies tend to loose color, to some extent the taste goes off and also good for few weeks. Most fo the dry curries freeze well, they do release some water content when thawed but you may have to saute for sometime over the pan. I suggest you partially cook and then freeze, that way when they come out of the freezer you can finish them perfectly by cooking for some more time on the tawa. Hope this helps and write to me if you have any questions. Thanks!

Hi Mullai. Your recipes and ideas are very good. Tried a few and they came out excellent. I was wondering if you could post some slow-cooker indian recipes. I was unable to find good ones on the internet. Thank you!

this was very helpful!
I would like your suggestion as I am planning on making green bean poriyal for about 30-35 people- I am just planning to add coconut when I warm up the beans for the gathering.
The gathering is in 1 month so please let me know if this method will work

Lakshmi,
Ofcourse you can freeze poriyals but its for our own convenience something like a temporary arrangement. Frozen foods has its own downfalls too right?? definitely its not going to taste as good as fresh beans. When you prepare for a big crowd or gathering it is advisable to prepare fresh. All you have do is saute the onion and garlic and throw in a big pack of frozen cut beans and garnish with coconut. This will only take about 10-15 minutes and you can make this a day ahead, refrigerate and reheat in the microwave. My 2 cents! Thanks.

Generally when i store any food item in a ziploc cover.. i feel a plastic kinda smell when i reheat.. sometimes the odour is so strong that i better throw them away.. can u suggest something on this? why this happens?

Thanks for these ideas! I will definitely try this out this week. What I usually do is make a paste of raw onion and raw tomato and store it in separate containers in the freezer and use this as a base for several north Indian curries/gravies. Stays good upto 4-5 days

Simply suberb!!!!! comes handy especially on extremely busy days and when unexpected guests arrive for a meal. what can I say mullai….you are a very organised spouse I must say..your hubby is really blessed to have u for a wife. ur blog is my inspiration. wanna be as good as you in managing my kitchen and home and my hubby will be pleased. God bless you for sharing and inspiring through your work. hope all your readers realise that it takes a lot of effort to put up such a wonderful, genuine and original recipes blog.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment

Name*

Email*

Website

CAPTCHA Code *

Welcome to spiceindiaonline.com your ultimate source for Indian recipes online. I am Mullai Madavan, who is cooking and curating content for this portal. Hope you enjoy my collection and thanks for visiting my space.
Click here for -> About